The most spectacular office investments in Warsaw are under construction by the metro stations. The demand for them is high
No other part of Warsaw is developing in such spectacular way as the area of Daszyńskiego roundabout, with both office and residential buildings emerging around it. The metro is the driving force behind the changes in this part of the city. Since the launch of the second Warsaw metro line, capital’s business center has been growing westwards, towards Wola.
– The largest investments currently underway in Warsaw are being located mainly nearby this transportation thread. In two years, these new buildings are to bring about half a million square meters of modern space, notes Mateusz Strzelecki, Partner at Walter Herz.
– Among the emerging facilities are those that offer a direct connection to the metro, which increases the comfort of their use, thus giving property owners an advantage on the increasingly competitive Warsaw market. Developers making investments located near the metro make every effort to ensure that buildings have the best possible connection to the metro stations. Such a solution raises not only the attractiveness, but also the value of the investment. The new facilities that were created near the metro station are undoubtedly a great investment product. There is no shortage of those willing to buy them. They often find buyers immediately after completion of construction or commercialization, as shown by Gdański Business Center and Q22 – explains Mateusz Strzelecki.
Corridors leading from the office buildings to the metro platforms and Central Railway Station
Buildings connected to the metro are under construction in several locations of the city. Large commercial projects are carried out at Świętokrzyska station, ONZ and Daszyńskiego roundabouts, as well as Szwedzka. Varso complex, built at the intersection of Chmielna and Jana Pawła II Street, will also offer a direct access to the Central Railway Station. The facility will be the tallest building in Poland.
The first Warsaw office and retail complex, which is connected to the metro station with an underground corridor, has already been commissioned. Centrum Marszałkowska complex with the new Sezam, which replaced the iconic Społem Sezam, gained an underground connection to the mezzanine of Świętokrzyska metro station. The investor of the project – BBI Development company, has moved one of the exits from the C11 station from the sidewalk to the new building’s entrance.
The mezzanine of the metro station is slightly lower than the level of Sezam, which is why the passengers and the shoppers have to go down a few steps to get to the metro platform. The new corridor gained additional escalators and was finished with original, restored ceramics from the DT Sezam building, so that it would refer to the interior design of the former Społem Śródmieście Cooperative building.
New Sezam and underground corridor, leading from the metro to the retail premises on level -1 and constituting an independent part of the building, were opened in June, 2018. The tenants will move into offices that are located in Centrum Marszałkowska this autumn. The tower built over the intersection of two metro lines
The exit from Świętokrzyska metro station will also be embedded in the underground of the Central Point office building of Immobel Poland, located on the north-western side of Świętokrzyska and Marszałkowska intersection. The construction of a 22-storey office building, which required extensive reconciliation with Metro Warszawskie, has started this spring. A few above-ground floors will be partially supported by the frame of A14 station, which has been designed to withstand future construction. The 86-meter building will be structurally connected to the intersection of two metro lines with four underground storeys. The development of such a demanding project involved, among others, scientists from the Cracow University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, ITB and BWL and Metroprojekt engineering studios. Central Point, unlike the Marszałkowska Center, will not be connected to Świętokrzyska metro station. The building will be overhanging the existing elevator and the exit from the subway towards Zielna Street, which will not change. It is to be completed by mid-2020.
Three skyscrapers on a 100 meter podium
The office building, which PHN will build at 36 Świętokrzyska Street in the place of an old, demolished office building, will be connected to Rondo ONZ subway station. A 155-meter tower will be built there, which will offer around 40 thousand sq m of modern space. The users of the building will have direct access to the underground railway. The construction of the building is to be completed by 2021.
The largest investment, providing direct access to the metro is Ghelamco’s The Warsaw Hub. The complex is under construction at Daszyńskiego roundabout, it will offer around 113 thousand sq m of multifunctional space, and will consist of three buildings that will fill the big frontage along Towarowa Street. At the roundabout, there will be an 86-meter building, resembling an elliptical cross-section, with two towers measuring 130 meters standing next to it. The buildings will be connected by a ground-level, nearly 100-meter-high podium and six underground storeys.
The complex will accommodate the highest class office, retail and service spaces, a conference center, a co-working zone, and a three and four-star hotel. The commissioning of The Warsaw Hub is planned for the end of 2019. Recently, the construction of an underground tunnel has begun, which will allow getting from the metro to the office building without having to go outside. The transition to the commercial and service passage located in the building on level -1 and on the metro platforms shall be completed before the facility is commissioned.
Offices in restored buildings of the former factory
Bohema will also be connected to Szwedzka metro station and a network of exits on Strzelecka Street. Okam is currently working on the revitalization of the buildings of the former Pollena Uroda factory in Warsaw’s district of Praga. In several, 19th-century buildings, there will be offices and retail and service area. Historical buildings will be complemented by modern residential buildings. There is also an aparthotel in the complex. The investment is implemented in stages, and will be finished by 2022. The underground storey of Bohema will be connected with the retail floor of Szwedzka metro station under Strzelecka Street, which is planned to open in mid-2019. At the end of next year, the first stage of the investment will be commissioned, with 300 flats and a revitalized historic building with commercial space. Developers who carry out investments by metro stations arrange projects so that the emerging buildings have the best possible access to the station. HB Reavis company has built the stairs that shorten the access to the metro between the building A of the Gdański Business Center and the entrance to Dworzec Gdański station. In the recently completed complex of four buildings at Inflancka Street, offering nearly 100 thousand sq m of lease area, a public recreational courtyard with elements of greenery and small architecture elements was also created. Tunnel leading from the highest building in the country to the Central Railway Station Villa Metro office building was commissioned by Wilanowska metro station in the spring of 2018, and two new entries to the underground railway were created with it. The building, which emerged at Puławska Street, has a fully glazed façade decorated with a characteristic rhomboid structure in a subdued white. Uninteresting, plexiglass-covered structures of old entrances to the 90’s metro station were replaced by new pavilions, stylistically referring to the office building. Varso complex will have the longest underground connection with the main Warsaw traffic junction. The facility is under construction at Chmielna and Jana Pawła II Streets. Three buildings that are implemented as part of this project will be combined with an underground shopping center next to the Central Railway Station, which continues on to the PKP Śródmieście station. The PKP plans also include building a link between the Central Railway Station and Centrum metro station, which is to be built during the renovation of the cross-city line. Currently at the Varso building site, which will offer 145 thousand sq m of lease area, the foundation slab is being constructed. All three buildings are expected to reach the ground level this fall. The lower skyscrapers will be completed in 2019. Varso Tower, which will measure 310 meters with the spire will be the tallest building in Poland, is to be commissioned a year later. The tower and one of the lower buildings are to offer offices. The second, 90-meter-high tower will be the first Nyx hotel in Poland, belonging to the Leonardo Hotels chain. On the ground floor of the complex there will be an indoor passage with shops and restaurants.
Author: Walter Herz
